Russia-Japan 2+2 ministers meeting date to be announced - ministry

The date of a two-plus-two meeting between the Russian and Japanese ministers of foreign affairs and of defense is not set yet, Japan’s Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida said on Dec. 18.

"As yet, there is no final decision about when to have the two-plus-two meeting, though security contacts, of course, are very important," Kyodo quoted the minister as saying.

During a meeting between Russia’s President Vladimir Putin and Japan’s Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on December 15, the parties agreed to resume the earlier frozen contacts, including between the military, in the two-plus-two format featuring foreign and defense ministers. The first meeting of the kind took place in Tokyo in late 2013.